A reexamination of the earliest silver hoard found at Megiddo suggests it was likely deposited during or after Pharaoh Thutmose III’s mid-15th century BCE campaign, rather than in the Middle Bronze Age as originally proposed. Lead isotope analysis indicates the silver aligns with Late Bronze Age material, providing new historical context for the hoard.
The study, published in Archaeometry by Tzilla Eshel and Israel Finkelstein of the University of Haifa, analyzed 44 silver items from Hoard 5034, including ingots, cut sheets, rods, and wires. The hoard, originally uncovered by the University of Chicago excavations, was reassessed using chemical and isotopic testing.
According to Eshel and Finkelstein, “Although the hoard could be associated with several overlying MB II strata, the isotopic ratios of the silver, combined with archaeological considerations, suggest that it be placed in the Late Bronze Stratum IX and associated with the siege and takeover of Megiddo by Thutmose III in the mid-15th century BCE.”
Lead isotopes showed the silver differed from earlier Middle Bronze Age silver likely sourced from Anatolia. Instead, the results closely resembled Late Bronze Age silver, comparable to material from sites like Tell el-ʿAjjul and Tel Abel Beth Maacah. “The isotopic ratios hint at the Late Bronze Age rather than the Middle Bronze Age,” the authors wrote.
The study argued that the hoard was likely deposited during a period of unrest, coinciding with the Egyptian conquest described in Thutmose III’s annals. “Hoard 5034 may have been cached due to unrest caused by the Thutmose III attack,” Eshel and Finkelstein concluded.
They added that the Megiddo hoard remains the earliest evidence of silver currency at the site and may reflect broader economic and political changes brought by Egyptian expansion into Canaan.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.